Children’s Village Center Vision, 2003. Illustration by Dennis Grebner.
The Franklin Portland Gateway project is a major residential/commercial redevelopment of the largely vacant and underutilized land at the intersection of Franklin and Portland Avenues to major arteries in Minneapolis.
In 1996, Hope Community purchased 90% of the frontage on Franklin Avenue between Portland and Oakland Avenues. The property was largely vacant and blighted and often the site of drug deals and violence. Hope knew that this property would one day present an opportunity to turn the fortunes of this historically significant commercial corridor. After years of strategic preparation, Hope was ready in 1999 to lay out a larger vision that was called the “Children’s Village Vision.” The Franklin Avenue property became the catalyst for planning a major development at all four corners that would transform the entire area. In order to track the events and opportunities that could set the stage for the development we envisioned, Hope sought out relationships with other stakeholders and owners of property in the area.
Two breakthrough events came in 1999. First, the Minneapolis City Council placed a moratorium on auto related businesses throughout the city and thus prevented the re-use of the 3 corners that Hope did not control. Although there was some attempt by owners to overturn the moratorium or to introduce a pawnshop or convenience store in existing buildings, the climate of indifference had changed with the introduction of Hope’s Children’s Village Vision and all such efforts failed. We were then faced with the challenge to step up the momentum and make the vision a possibility.
We had learned that many factors can create windows of opportunity, but in the final analysis ownership of land is central to success and must be in hand in order to move from possibility to reality. Our second breakthrough came with the $500,000 grant we received from the Phillips Family Foundation, which allowed us to purchase the second of the four corners. This significant level of ownership secured Hope’s continued leadership in the redevelopment of the intersection and led to the formation of the collaborative partnership between Hope and Aeon that would develop the entire intersection.
